The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The rate of abortion has increased in some areas of the country though the abortion related maternal deaths have decreased.

A report of ICDDR,B revealed this recently after collecting data from Matlab upazila of Chandpur and Mirersarai upazila of Chittagong to explore abortion ratios and total abortion rates among married women from 1982 to 2004.

The report also said that while the abortion ratio among married women in Mirersarai has remained fairly constant since the middle of 1990, at just below 60 per 1,000 live births, the ratio in Abhoynagar has approximately doubled during the period from close to 40 per 1,000 live births to over 100 abortions against the same number.

In both the ICDDR,B and government service areas of Matlab ratios among married women have also increased but in the government area, the increase has been fairly steady since the 1980s, whereas in the ICDDR,B area the increase took place mainly after 1998.

Meanwhile, in one hand, over time, ratios have been consistently higher in the government area. On the other, the study said that during 1976 to 2005 in the ICDDR,B area substantial reduction took place in all causes of maternal deaths including abortion. Abortion related deaths consistently decreased from 99 to 12 per 100,000 pregnancies between 1976 and 2005 in the ICDDR,B area.

Besides, in the government area, abortion related deaths also decreased from a peak of 107 per 100,000 pregnancies between 1981 and 1985 to 24 per same pregnancies between 2001 and 2005. From 2001 to 2005, twice as many women died from abortion per 100,000 pregnancies in the government area as in the ICDDR,B area.

The proportion of maternal deaths attributable to abortion decreased from 24 per cent to 11 per cent in the ICDDR,B area from 1976 to 1985 and 1996 to 2005, the report said.

Meanwhile, the trend is not consistent in the government area, where 17 per cent of maternal deaths were attributable to abortion from 1976 to 1985, 22 per cent from 1986 to 1995 and 15 per cent from 1996 to 2006.

The most recent rates in both areas are comparable to rates from developing countries in Asia for 2000, which is 13 per cent, and lower than earlier reported rates in Bangladesh. It concluded that levels of Menstrual Regulation (MR) and abortion as measured using both abortion ratios and abortion rates, appear to be increasing, at least in some areas of the country. It means that a pregnancy will end in abortions or MRs and probability that a pregnancy will end in an abortion or MR are increasing.

The study stressed the need for providing all women with access to safe means to avoid unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion and also to ensure adequate treatment for women who have abortion complications.